A wide variety of devices and methods are known in the art for catching crustaceans and the like. Most such devices, however, are intended for commercial applications and are therefore designed for expediency. They are generally designed to maximize the ability to catch such creatures while minimizing the amount of time necessary for an operator to be engaged with the device. Most such solutions have ranged from either passive devices, such as the conventional trap or "pot" used to catch lobsters and crabs, to dredging nets and the like.
However, there are very few devices which can be used by an individual or individuals in a sports fishing-type setting. In using most prior art devices, the operator simply places the device in a body of water and periodically checks to see if any of the desired crustaceans have been trapped. However, there is very little "sport" in using these devices, i.e., the operator has only limited participation in the process of catching the crustaceans.
Some inventors have attempted to provide devices for catching crabs and other crustaceans which can be used in a manner which more closely resembles sports fishing. Such devices desirably are capable of being cast with a rod and reel of the type conventionally used in sports fishing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,935 (Riddell) shows a relatively complex crab-catching apparatus which may be cast "with a sturdy rod and reel." This device generally comprises a plurality of rigid rods, with each rod attached at one end to a hub via a flexible spring. A net is stretched between the other end of each of these rods and rests flat upon the bottom of the body of water into which the device is cast.
Although the specification of this patent states that the device may be cast with a rod and reel, the device is quite bulky and very little consideration appears to have been given to the weight distribution of the device. Accordingly, casting such an apparatus in standard fashion with a rod and reel is, at best, awkward and is quite difficult to carry out with reasonable success. Furthermore, this apparatus does not permit the operator to become actively engaged in the process of catching the crabs which may crawl into the net. Instead, bait is simply placed on a spike above the net and the operator simply lifts the net periodically to see if any crabs have been ensnared when the device is lifted. Apart from visual observation of the device within the water, there does not appear to be any means of detecting when a crab is in the net. Hence, one cannot cast the device any significant distance with a rod and reel and still be able to monitor the deployed device.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a rig for catching crabs and other crustaceans which allows the operator to actively participate in the process of catching the crustaceans. It is also desirable to provide such a device which may readily be casted with a standard, sports fishing-type rod and reel and permit the operator to detect the presence of a crab within the apparatus without requiring direct visual observation thereof.